It is often (well, in my case) that when we go out to shop or to meet-up with friends, we look for places to rest our swollen feet and to ultimately, well, eat! I have a few tips on how to look for good places to eat and give some of my favorites as well.

When I look for a place to stuff my face with food I have a few rules. First one would be to avoid Filipino food. Unless they serve up dishes that you can’t prepare at home or you’re a foreigner or a balikbayan, it’s best to avoid such places. Trust me; your home-cooking is, most of the time, better. Second would be to work around your budget. Quick! Look at your wallet! How much do you have? Good food need not be expensive. There are places where you can have a very nice meal with 50 bucks in hand and still have some change left for dessert and transpo. Last one is to decide if you need satisfy your palate or to fill up the grumbling beast that is your tummy. There are times, I’m quite sure you were so hungry and bought something because the food looks so good in the picture. After you order, you’ll discover that the item is so small it can be used as mouse trap bait. It is not impolite to ask for the serving size of an item.

Now, for some of my favorite…you guessed it…places to stuff my face with food. You’re in the mall doing your shopping and you just need a quick bite. Pao Tsin might be right for you. Located at most SM Supermarket (you know? the place where the Jamaican Patties are in too). Inexpensive at P46 for a serving of 4 dumplings and half a styro (think Jolly Spaghetti size styro) of Hainanese Rice, the bang for this one is most definitely worth the buck. But don’t expect too much especially if you watch Cooking Master Boy. No dragons coming out of the siomai here, food here’s pretty straightforward but filling nonetheless.

I also would like to make you try World Chicken. It’s in food courts, this one. Basically, they give you grilled chicken, the sauce of your choice and 1 or 2 sidings. Grub is a bit pricey for students; it’s P123 for 1 siding and P152 for 2. What appeals to me the most is the simplicity of the ordering system. The hanging menu is simple and neat unlike those of Jollibee’s.

There once was this Shawarma stall in Robinson’s Metro East, just outside the Supermarket. It’s the most delicious Shawarma I ever had yet. If I remember right, I think they had Hummus for the sauce. Too bad it vanished because I was almost exclusively buying my fix there. Real Bite Shawarma which is also MIA in Riverbanks Mall is not bad. Avoid Turk’s Shawarma, the bread’s too sweet and the beef’s too red and there’s not an ounce of goodness in it, a waste of your money.

Was out for a drive with a friend and decided to pick up a Chicken Shawarma from here. All of INR 80, it is just a bit more expensive and maybe a bit better than its Carter Blue counterpart. Less of veggies and more of chicken for one, the Pita Bread too was much softer. In fact, it was what I think, the way Merhaba – The Gourmet Cafe intended to make the bread. The best thing about Biona’s shawarma was the bread wasn’t chewy nor was it tilting towards the crunchy side. The chicken was good as well and the roll was by far the biggest one I have had so far!

Truly delightful, the shawarma comes in two sizes, regular and large but I am guessing the regular one suffices the appetites of most people. It satiated my taste buds and stopped my stomach from growling further!

Day 3 was a late start,I decided to check out the area,didn’t want to get lost like the first day,therefore I took a notebook and started marking my path out until the main road so I could track my way back ( don’t consider a bread trail to be a successful method of doing that especially with the count of birds in Istanbul ). Walked around, felt like having a shawarma, which is called a Doner in Turkish, skimmed through a couple of menus, and reached a place, which looked a bit professional, most of the places serve the shawarma not in a pita bread but in a bun, which was the first setback for me. The shawarma for me is to be relished with the least amount of wheat encapsulating the meat ,that’s when the actual shawarma can be tasted.I had come to Turkey with a big perception that the food will be extra tasty which gave me the random thought ,”where is the Turkish Food which I had heard about?” Second Setback.

After having that, decided to head back to the hotel,would’ve reached the hotel easily, until I saw commotion in a bustling marketplace, so I thought I’d check it out and when I went in
I had found the Turkish equivalent of Pakistans food street,since I’d already had food I didn’t try any food over there , due to my laziness I didn’t go back out from the path I came in but turned and started walking towards where I thought my hotel was.Wrong move.Although the path was right and I was able to reach the blue mosque (and my hotel was at a 10 minute walk from there but that day I didn’t know that) I got tired of searching and midnight was approaching near so decided to take a taxi. The taxi took me around the block and I was dropped off at a place saying ,”the road to the hotel is blocked in front but my hotel was straight ahead so I could just walk”.Paid the equivalent of 20 USD to the looter and walked “straight ahead”, no hotel!!!
I must’ve walked for about 1.5 hours after getting out of the taxi asking from different people on where the hotel was, before I reached it.

Hero of the day: Mohammed Ali of the Four Seasons hotel who guided me properly even confirming with the hotels driver about the location,and if that wasn’t enough, he took out a pocket map of the area and handed it over to me guiding on the path properly.
TiP: The least thing one can do is to have the address of anyplace one wants to go, in my case the hotel( Although I had the hotels key with me, but the key didn’t have the hotels address on it,the first thing I did when I went back to the hotel is got their card to help me with my future adventures).

OMG, I don’t know what to think about while thinking only about my final story …But I hope that Turkish Shawarma in Tbilisi is a good idea. Despite that I love eating shawarma, I try to be suspicious. In Georgia we very often face with hygiene untidiness, food made God knows where, how and by whom, products sold in dirty and untidy places. Unfortunately, shawarma is one of them.

While writing about this delicious food, firstly I’d ask a comment about Georgian Food … the institution which regulates safety and quality of food in Georgia. I’d ask what do they know about shawarma centers. It’s also interesting to know how they control cleanness  in that places. It would be better to know the approximate number of shawarma centers.

Then I’d go to a doctor who would explain what kind of illnesses and toxins a human might gain from bad shawarma. I’d also apply to several hospitals’ statistics to find out the number of patients with same symptoms.

After that I’d go and ask people near shawarma centers to know whether they eat shawarma and how often they do it. I’d also ask if they are sure in their food’s safety.

Finally I’d ask a comment to shawarma sellers. I’d like them to show the whole process of shawarma’s making. From roasting a meat to wrapping it in bread. I’d also find their opinion about bad quality shawarmas and know their opinion where they are being sold.

And after finishing a story, I’m sure I’ll have known at least one place where the real shawarma is made and I’d eat a big one!

I spent the last two days in Yellowknife, NT, Canada. This place is remote, and I’m talking top-of-the-world remote. Look it up on google maps. Everything here is imported and EVERYTHING is expensive. But do you really think I’d ever consider surviving on ramen noodles? I knew this place had some tricks up its sleeve.

Dinner @ the hotel restaurant
“There are few pleasures in life like softened butter.” Profound. Manny put it perfectly. I could easily live on bread and butter. If that is in fact what they serve in jail I’m not so afraid of incarceration. From the moment the bread basket arrived at our table I knew we were in for a meal; you can always tell at that point. The appetizers came (and went fast.) Prosciutto wrapped shrimp, crab cakes, and bacon wrapped scallops (Manny’s first scallop.) I was relieved to be eating real food again for the first time in almost two weeks. Then it arrived, my very first experience of arctic char, grilled to just-firm-on-the-outside & soft-on-the-inside perfection, topped with a lemon cranberry butter sauce. A LEMON CRANBERRY BUTTER SAUCE!! Just look at it. I don’t even need to tell you how awesome it was.
Meal total: $50

Lunch in town
For lunch the next day we had a couple hours to kill, and being that we dropped a decent buck on dinner the night before, we decided to be frugal. Yellowknife is small, and I’d bet we walked through almost the whole town looking for a cheap lunch. This was not an easy task. We walked into a place that held what I will say was the grossest pizza I have ever laid eyes on. Manny settled for a subway meatball parm sandwich FOR 12 BUCKS!! Outrageous. I lucked out and found a small Lebanese takeout joint. Yet again did I find a diamond in the rough. Chicken shawarma with hummus, tabouleh, tahini sauce, and hot sauce on a pita wrap. Ohhhh my god. This was so good I can’t even describe it. I decided to take a picture of just the wrapped gift because the contents were so beautiful your head would explode.
Meal total: $12

Dinner @ the Olympic torch celebration site
At this point I was really running low on funds, and after performing on stage in 0 degree weather, I was pretty damn hungry. I walked up to a couple stands where they were selling food and what did I find? BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. Dare I try a southern staple all the way up here in the tundra of the Northwest Territories? Well it turns out the nice cook was so impressed with our drumming that he decided to give us each a hefty serving of pork-on-a-bun. HOLY SHIT. This was good. One of the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot. This just goes to show you, cuisine origin and authenticity mean jack.
Meal total: FREE!!

In closing, no matter where you are, you never have to settle for shitty food.

Personally I never heard of ‘Gyros’ when I was growing up in the Middle East, so I found it interesting and enjoyed it. Until one day I started missing ’shawarma’ the real thang! And to my surprise, a friend of mine (Taha) told me about Mim’s Cafe… and the rest is … you know… oh man, I can still taste the juicy pieces of shawarma! YUM!

shawarma vs gyro

First of all, I think it is necessary to clear out the difference between gyro and shawarma.  Here is my quick rundown of the difference in the two:  (from: Chow.com and Wikipedia and personal experience)

Both are delicious but in Minnesota you hardly find shawarma’s and I recently found a place – Yes, thats why Im blogging about it.

mim’s cafe

Mim’s cafe is located near the University of Minnesota Campus (more on how to get there under location).  So I had this craving for shawarma one day and I asked around if anyone knew where I can find a good shawarma – a friend of mine told me about Mim’s Cafe and saved my life.  First of all if you search for Mim’s Cafe you will get Mimi’s cafe (which is obviously not the same) so anyway we get to this place and its late and I don’t see the meat on the spit – at that moment I thought all hope is lost.  But then the guy running the place (Majid) asked me if I wanted shawarma.  They usually take it down to store it for the next day.  It turns out that they prepare their own meat for the shawarma.  The guy was nice and instantly recognized my friend who referred me to his place.  I suggested the place to a couple of friends and they love it.  If you get a chance try this place, its good.

food 9/10

The best shawarma (so far) and the best falafel ever!  Falafels are fresh and crunchy.  Also the hummus was awesome, but I think the one at Holy Land is just a little better.  The shawarma is like $5 something.. so its not that expensive either.  Haven’t tried anything else there.  So awesome falafel and shawarma, great hummus, moderate to cheap prices.  Anyone ever tried anything else there? (write in comments section)

service 7/10

Service was fast and good.  People are nice and friendly.  You have to get drinks and napkins by yourself but that is expected at a fast food place.  I really liked how the host didn’t bother us and let us be until we were almost done.  I hate when people keep asking you, ‘How is the food?’ while you are in the middle of chewing your first bite.  But if you raise your head and look towards him he would come running.  It might be different during different times of the day as well.  We went at night around 8 or 9, maybe its different when the place is crowded.

location

Street parking only as it is right on campus.  Easy to find but don’t follow the directions from Google.  Google will send you to this address: 1435 Cleveland Ave S, St Paul, MN.  Thats the wrong address!  This is the correct address: 1435 Cleveland Ave N, St Paul, MN 55108

Go there, try it out, tell your friends and leave comments.

Oh yes, and when you go there tell them you heard about this place from ‘Sameer’!

Sometimes I don’t blog about things because I want them to stay a secret. And sometimes they’re just too much a part of my regular eating habits to occur to me to write about. Babylon Cafe is one of those places that I frequent regularly, but haven’t blogged about yet. As you can see from the line up in the photo, the it’s no secret and I can tell you that there is a line for a reason. Standing inside the tiny shop with the cold air outside and the heat from the cookers while the small space fills with aromas of garlic, onion and cooking meats one of the simplest pleasures. My stomach was grumbling in anticipation of greasy goodness the other day while my shawarma was laid out with hummus, onion, tomato, hot sauce, tabbouleh and finally, lamb.

You get in and you get out. There’s not a lot of room, so people stand around outside eating hungrily (especially late at night) and the deconstructed shawarma plates that are often available at other Lebanese places are not on the menu here. It’s probably just as well, because walking down the street trying not to spill hot sauce out of your wrap is hard enough, but well worth it.

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Babylon Cafe
708 Robson Street, Vancouver

Yesterday, I went with Saakshi for her birthday party to New Friends Colony market. The two things that I first noticed when we reached there were the eating places with Arabic (or well some middle eastern language) written on their signboards, and the ample number of “Wine Shops” and that got me real excited <wink>. So we went to this place called Al Bake famous for the Shawarma. The place i heard was rated as among the top 10 eating places in Delhi and it truly lived up to its name.  It is not one of those high end and all neat places. When I first saw it, I was reminded of the shops in Parathe wali Gali. So, shawarma is basically meat rolled up in a roti like bread. At Al Bake they serve chicken shawarma with mayonaisse. And wow!!! it is awesome!! ( person who came up with the idea of chicken + mayonaisse must have been a culinary genius). Like Shiti’s description of rogan josh – “It is like sex for your tongue. If you haven’t eaten it yet, your tongue is still a virgin.”  And at Rs 25 per piece it is a steal. Even Anupam would be full after having 4 pieces. I wanna go again, but this time with my mates, take a bottle of chilled beer, and (well cheesy as it may sound) let my tongue enjoy!!

So, first it was chicken shawarma, and now it’s turkey shawarma.  But whatever the shawarma you pick, it’s all tasty.  This dish is

turkey shawarma

surprisingly quick to make- if you ignore the recommended 4-8 hour sitting time for the turkey, which I did when we decided to grill out last Friday.  I don’t think we lost anything in terms of flavor, and had dinner on the table in about 30 minutes- less if you made the tomato relish and tahini sauce ahead of time.  The recipe, which comes from Bon Appetit, makes 8 servings, so I scaled it down to 4, which makes 4-6 pita wraps, depending on the size of pita used.  It’s great served with grilled zucchini on the side.

Ingredients:

For the turkey:

1 1/4 lb turkey cutlets (Publix carried these- it’s thin slices of turkey breast)

1 onion, cut into 1/4″ rounds

1/2 T ground turmeric

1 t coarse kosher salt

1 t ground coriander

1/2 t ground cumin

1/2 t ground black pepper

1/2 t ground white pepper

1/2 t hot paprika or cayenne pepper

4 T (about) extra-virgin olive oil, divided

6-8 whole wheat pita breads

For the tomato relish:

1/2 lb ripe tomatoes, finely chopped (with seeds and juices

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

2 T chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

3 T fresh lemon juice

1 serrano chile, seeded, finely chopped

For the tahini sauce:

1/2 c tahini (sesame seed paste)*

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup (or more) hot water

Directions:

Combine all dry spices in a small bowl and mix to combine.  Sprinkle spices over onion and both sides of the turkey cutlets.  Drizzle with 1-2 T olive oil and let sit for a few minutes, or covered and in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours.

Meanwhile, combine all the tomato relish ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Combine the tahini ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to a smooth sauce and season to taste with salt.  I kept mine about the consistency of ketchup, but you can add more water to thin if needed.

When turkey cutlets are ready, heat a grill and grease grill racks.  Place cutlets and onion on the grill and let cook 1-2 minutes per side, until cutlets are just done and the onions are softened.  Cooking time will depend upon thickness.  Toast pitas on the grill for 1-2 minutes to soften them.  Remove onions and cutlets from the grill to a plate and cut into 1/2″ strips.  Layer turkey, onions, tomato relish and tahini sauce on pitas, fold and eat!  Garnish with dill pickes, if desired.

I figured that after about a year I have enough information and experience to write a review of my neighbourhood.

We’re talking about the King Street West and Dufferin Street area. If you’re not sure where that is I’ll give you directions.

1. From downtown Toronto: Head west on King Street, past the trendy part, under the train bridge and there I am.

2. From the highway east of Toronto: Take the 401 until the DVP, take the DVP to the Gardiner Express Way past the CNE grounds and Ontario Place, get off at the Dunn exit, head north from the highway past Medieval Times to King Street.

There are both pro’s and con’s to the area. But so far I’ve decided that the pro’s outweigh the con’s. I’ll throw a little list together.

Pro’s-Cheap/ Affordable rent.
-Various fast food and restaurant choices.
-Laundry Mat uber close to the apartment.
-6 convenience stores in 3 blocks on King Street West.
-24 hour TTC Dufferin bus line service north and south.
-Mostly reliable TTC Streetcar service on King Street.
-Close to the very trendy Liberty Village area.
-Quick trip to the Roger’s Centre for baseball games all summer.
-Close to the Exhibition Go Train station for trips home and to Oakville.

Con’s
-A couple sketchy bars.
-A few “women of the night” in the general area.
-Multiple unemployed/ underemployed folks asking for financial help in the general area.
-A fair distance from work.
-A long way from where a lot of other people live.

As I said, the pro’s outweigh the con’s so far. And especially with the new apartment that I’ve living in now it looks better.
A few of my favourite places in the area include:

Galaxy Donut, where I can get a large coffee and donut for $2.25 as well as scratch and win lotto tickets and cigarettes.

Pita Way, where I can grab a shawarma pita for $2.99 or 2 for $4.99. It’s the deal of the day every time that I’m too hungry, lazy or busy to cook. Like last night for example when there was hockey waiting for me almost the minute I got in the door.

Pho Asia 21, this is the cheapest way to eat hot, tasty and healthy soup and such. If you want something that will heat you from the inside out on a cold winter day, this is the place to go. It will even keep your hands warm on the walk home.

Blockbuster Video, in Liberty Village where I can grab previously viewed DVDs on the cheap since that’s where the chain seems to be making its money these days.

Metro Grocery, also in Liberty Village, the Metro has a whole bunch of everything including ready to eat cooked chicken, pizza, salads and chicken wings which I have purchased on many occasions. There is also a bulk food section where I have stocked up on trail mix, candy and assorted other goodies.

No Frills Grocery, located just west of my place (one Streetcar stop) the local No Frills has great deals on the foods that everyone wants to have in the fridge and on the shelf. There are quite often sales that are worth looking into and there has been money spent at the cash registers there for sure.

I mentioned that my neighbourhood is west of trendy. But that’s starting to change a little bit. With the emergence of the Liberty Village area and growth of festivals like Caribana, the Toronto Honda Indy and the Canadian National Exhibition the area can’t help but develop a little bit at a time.

Ok, so we’ve looked at the shops, the residents and hangers on, the transit and the rent situation. I don’t know what else there is in the area that I haven’t covered. If there is something I haven’t been looking hard enough.

Come visit sometime. You can buy me a shawarma and we can wander to the village.

Do you remember the good ol’ days when people traveled for hours to eat Zankou’s famous Chicken with garlic, Shawarma or other delicious food? When Tabbouleh tasted like tabbouleh and one couldn’t eat enough?

What happened?

Now you have mostly Mexican people running the show and try telling them that something isn’t right!

The Shawarma is no longer something to write home about; neither is the chicken – and El Pollo Loco is much better! As for the Falafel, don’t even bother. It’s just a grease-ball that is best served for baseball practice.

Enough said!

If you have an experience – positive or otherwise, at Zankou’s, we’ll be happy to post.

AA

It was K’s last night with me before he moves to Brighton. After fiddling with toys in Hamleys, walking around the Regent Street Festival, wandering the too-posh area around Bond Street, commenting on outfits that cost as much as a deposit on a house and swirling our heads round to admire a white Bugatti Veyron convertible, we were hungry.

K called his Lebanese gynecologist friend for some advice and we found ourselves on the vibrant James Street. It has a square of restaurants and men playing music in the street. The night air was warm and windless. Though you really can’t see any stars in the middle of London, it was a stunning night. 

At Massis, a little Lebanese restaurant next to a French creperie, we sat outside under a tree and an umbrella and filled our tummies with kellaj (char-grilled bread filled with halloumi cheese), mixed shawarma (tender slices of marinated chicken and roast lamb) and hot mint tea. We filled our minds with good conversation.

Next to us on both sides, people chattered away in Arabic, to each other and to the waiters. People were smoking shishas and when the street music moved along, exotic middle eastern music floated out of the restaurant door.

I love that London can transport you almost anywhere you would rather be. It’s not just London. It has little slices of the whole world swirling around in one massive, multicultural jumble. It’s a beautiful thing.

If I ever moved away from here than that is almost certainly what I would miss the most.

I had a good break, fully rejuvenated and fresh to start blogging again. Also, packed with great knowledge and a good boost of confidence to go back to work next week!

This is what my journey looked like, I’ll try to make it short and simple for you readers, so respect that and read on

Have you ever used all modes of transportation in one single day, I proudly did for my trip from Muscat to Wolverhampton! Do I recommend it, a clear cut ”NO”, it’s exhausting… but was great fun I must admit. We (the Mr. and I) were dropped off by car to the airport early morning, the 8th of September, took a comfortable flight to Birmingham airport, the tram to the train station, the train to Wolverhampton and our legs on a rainy evening to the hotel.

Wolverhampton:I expected a small town, I was mistaken it was a lively city just outside Birmingham. Fairly new, with shiny buildings, very different from those of old cities in the UK. The course was a 15-min walk from the hotel, not too bad, quite refreshing to start your day walking, considering the good weather of course. We’ve been quite lucky with the weather during our two week stay in UK this time, it doesn’t usually go that way!

The 2-day “Adult Stammering Intervention” course by two respected and well-known professionals in the field was phenomenal, in fact they declared that this was the last course they do together as one of them had already retired, call me “lucky”.

On the 12th, 4 days post-arrival, we took the train to London.

London:the city of diversity I’ll happily name it. You walk and hear 101 languages echoing back and forth, you do not feel outcast, you just fit in wherever you go. I remember hating London so much when I was younger, the last time I was there was with family, I was say 15 at the time. My father is not exactly calm, just imagine what he’d be like in an underground station trying to catch the next tube, with children roaming around fascinated by things they’d never seen before. His temper evaporates, then condensates on me to give me a tainted image of London for some 11 years, an image of rush and fury that is. London has definitely managed to erase that old image, I actually now understand why people go head over heels in London. I cannot imagine myself living in London, it’s too ”hype” for my liking, but I totally understand those who love it. The city has changed drastically, it’s become exceptionally diverse.  Walking and staring that’s what you do when you’re going around. You just enjoy looking at people rushing, hugging their plastic cups of coffee in one hand (here we go with the love of coffee again!) and a bagful of papers or a laptop in the other! All minding their own business. I particularly liked the formal looks on people from head to toe, actually from head to ankles (in suits), their foots in casual trainers for a comfortable run to and from work place! What a sight. Love life, love London! 

Why was I in London again? Oh the course! The second course was the Palin PCI (Parent Child Interaction) for early childhood stammering, in simple language, Stammering therapy for preschoolers. The course was top notch, well structured and beautifully presented.

Practical for Omani culture? I don’t know! From the title you can tell what it’s all about; the aim of this therapy is to promote parent-child interaction, it’s achieved by recording video tapes of each parent playing with the child. Mother playing with her child (acceptable, but video recording this interaction, typically not!). Father playing with the child (not culturally acceptable, recording it, no problem). Go figure! I’ll have a hard time applying this exact strategy, I’ll have to make a few adaptions, until we’re more open to this notion of video recording the Ma’s and convincing the Fa’s that going down to your child’s level and actually playing can help in stammering. We’re a practical nation, the first thing parents usually ask in clinic after my long session of reassuring, explaining and choosing a therapy method is: ”shai duyaat?” (Any medicine?). You just love them, so simple, get the medicine and go home!   

On the 20th of Sept, Eid was announced in London, we broke our fast one day earlier than family in Oman! I could’ve made it to Oman for eid, but it would have been extremely tiring to celebrate eid right after an 8-hour travel. Another reason or the “hidden agenda” to be more precise is because I had made plans to meet some special cousins namely; Miss.W, the well-known Kamakazy and Soulmate -yes, she’s behind the comments around this blog-!

This may sound harsh for some or illogical to many, but I enjoy Eid abroad just as much as I enjoy it at home. Eid has its special scent that follows you wherever you go! As long as I’ve got some family members around, I do not mind it one bit. We’ve had waffles and coffee for breakfast, instead of the meat and rice ( Arsiya- usually served on breakfast, day one of eid). Then, had the best shawarma anyone can ever dream of, in fact I’ve read reviews on the internet suggesting that it is the best Shawarma in the whole world. HEAVEN… Shahrayar can tell you all about it, he secretly got himself another bite of that heaven the next day (while I was shopping with Soulmate)!  

Not to bore you and prolong this post longer than it is now, I’ll leave you with the taste of shawarma in your mouth. Don’t bother getting one from wherever you are, that London shawarma was exceptional!

I’ll get back with more stories about this trip, oh and pictures also coming soon. No not of the shawarma unfortunately, I wouldn’t share the mouth-watering Tehini with my camera

Arab American Festival

The annual Arab-American Festival is filled with Middle-Eastern entertainment, food, and crafts. The weekend-long event attracts thousands of visitors to Garden Grove’s Village Green park at 12732 Main Street. For more information, contact the Arab American Council at (714) 758-3507 or visit www.aafestival.com – More photos HERE

ENJOY!

]]> http://tokyogreenspace.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/fall-omatsuri/ Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:43:22 +0000 palmsundae http://tokyogreenspace.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/fall-omatsuri/

This month there are many neighborhood omatsuri, festivals organized by local shrines to celebrate the harvest. Like the summer omatsuri I wrote about earlier, the festivals include carrying portable shrines through the streets, taiko drums, music, costumes include happi and fundoshi, public eating and drinking, and much neighborhood socializing.

Above is a large night festival in Suginami, popular with young people. The long path to the shrine is lined with hundreds of food stalls, selling regional foods and even imported ones like shawarma (which Japanese call kebab). Chocolate-covered bananas, light-up horns, and beer all seem popular.

Several features of omatsuri are particularly relevant to Tokyo Green Space: the celebration in the city of a harvest festival, the use of streets for community gathering, the multi-generational bonds of community that are formed and maintained.

Last weekend, my local shrine celebrated with a kid’s omatsuri one day, and an adult one the next day. Each day the parade made a stop in front of my apartment building, turning the parking lot into a public festival. The supermarket offered free drinks and food, and I met several young fathers and kids who live in my building. The woman next door who tends an overflowing flower garden in the alley was at the shrine, watering the ground. She welcomed me and gave me a tour of the shrine area, which had portable structures and the doors open in the small permanent building. You can see it is surrounded by blue sheets for an impromptu seating area.

I was also struck by the mesmerizing music. A band played in front of the shrine: three drummers, a flute player, and a simple metal instrument that resembles a tin bowl. The Youtube video gives you an idea of how it sounds.

After the jump, you can see a few extra pictures showing how the procession takes over the main street.

And finally, biking into Shinjuku, I was surprised to see so many small shrines, including temporary ones outside office buildings. In the days leading up to the festival, I had wondered about the large multi-rowed lanterns lit up. I wonder if this temporary shrine refers to one that existed prior to the building, or if it is somehow connected with the current tenant.

And a still photo of the musicians.

There’s a New Restaurant in Anaheim, California… Shishkabob!Located at 730 N Brookhurst St, Anaheim, CA 92801-3833, (714) 687-1888, this is not to promote and/or advertise for this restaurant.

This is simply to tell you NOT TO GO THERE!

The place is very nice and seems clean. Then again, the visit took place way past the lunch-hour rush. The people seem friendly but ordering – or getting food on time – seems to be a major challenge.

Two (2) tables with two people each were occupied and seem to have been there waiting for their food. We were in line along with a young couple. The young couple was behind us and we ordered: Beef Shawarma. How long would one need to wait for a Shawarma sandwich at, for example, at Zankou’s? 3 minutes? 5?

Well, we waited for 19 minutes!

By the way, there were 4 employees along with the owner behind the counter.

Then I complained…

Did anyone give a damn? None whatsoever.The young couple had ordered apparently lamb skewers. They received their food first!

The sandwiches ordered were warm on the outside; they press the sandwiches before serving – but the shawarma was COLD!

This was our first and last time there!

I would highly recommend that you don’t waste your money there!!!

AA

Situated as a counter falafel joint in a basement, the main thing going for it is its no-frills value. Excellent shawarma that’s hot and crispy on the outside and full of flavorful, juicy things on the inside. Inexpensive prices, and jovial counter servers encourage repeat business, though the interior is a dark dive. During warmer weather there are tables outside. I’d suggest taking out rather than eating in.

2020 Rue Crescent at Blvd. de Maisonneuve

metro: Peel

Hacía tiempo que no salía, ayer lo hice, me comí un chawarman con unos amigos y al darme el cambio me dieron 50centimos de más, los quise devolver pero el chawarmero me dijo que me los quedara xD … fuimos a un “chino” para pillarnos unos litros, al salir nos persigue un tio XD, viene corriendo hasta donde estamos… y nos saca una placa!,…que nos deja entrever unas milésimas de segundo, mientras nos dice desesperadamente “¿acabáis de comprar ahi, no?” a lo que le respondo que sí…son las 23.30 y es ilegal vender alcohol…, nos lleva a la esquina ( para que no le vean los chinos de la tienda) y nos dice que le demos un DNI,…”a vosotros no os va a pasar nada!” con una oscuridad en su mirada, sin embargo al chino si que le va a pasar no?,…pensamos todos a la vez…mi colega le pregunta que para qué quiere nuestros DNi’s y dice el amigo policía, al que se le une otro a su lado izquierdo, que estamos siendo testigos, en ese momento me pregunté que era lo más correcto, no se por qué le di el DNI yo, porque un amigo no lo tenía y el otro estaba preguntando que le enseñaran las placas, que él no las habia visto xD …ellos nos las enseñan, parecen fáciles de imitar, total, coge mi DNI, apunta mi nombre (y no en mayúsculas! jaja)  y entonces pensamos…para qué le va a servir mi nombre en un folio, sin mi firma…vaya tonteria…

Desesperadamente el sistema intenta llevar el control pero se le escapa como la arena entre las manos XD

Guess what type of food we had for dinner on a lazy Monday-holiday…

After a brief phone conversation in the morning and few text messages until afternoon, I, my wife Tina and our son Gabby were invited by our good friend of 16 years and counting, Rob to a dinner in one of the restaurants at the Atrium of SM Megamall.  He’ll depart again to middle of nowhere by the end of the week after his official days off so he had to see us and feed us; LOL, before he bids temporary good bye for another 3 months of medical work that gives him his bucks.

Because our host doesn’t eat meat and practices Pescetarianism by choice, seafood and no-meat diet should be present on the menu every time we’re eating with him. WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING!  We love seafood!!! But that night it was only him who had such craving, or was he?  I know it’s unusual, but believe it or not, I wan’t craving for anything.  I just went with the flow and trusted Rob’s preference.

Enough with the guessing game. I know I’m no good at that

OK, we had our first chow at THE KEBAB FACTORY.   It’s our first time there but Mediterranean food is never new to our palates.  I’m a fan of beef or chicken shawarma.  There was an episode in the life of Gelo & Tina when we became so addicted to shawarma that we had it for almost a week as late afternoon snacks  to the point that we got so umay or found it  ’sickening’.   But after few weeks, we craved for it again, lol and had tasted so many varieties from food stalls on streets and groceries to high-end hotel restos like CIRCLES EVENTS CAFE at MAKATI SHANGRI LA  where the chefs also serve such dishes to bakeshops like BreadTalk where they also sell Naan. 

Going back to The Kebab Factory, it was almost empty of customers when we got there that late Monday afternoon but as our son’s ‘magnetic powers’ with diners worked again; as everywhere we eat he attracts more clients.  With less than half hour, TKF was filled with hungry stomachs craving for something different.

Here’s a peek of  what we had…

PAPADUM  MASALA,  PhP 65 +.  Fried lentil wafers garnished with onions, tomatoes and coriander.

I ordered this appetizer. It’s marked as one of the bestsellers of TKF on their menu and the logic got into me after trying it.  The wafers were thin but crispy and were perfectly served with dips of  yogurt and hot sauce.

I wanted to compare  Naan of Breadtalk and Circles with that of TKF so I aslo ordered its kind…

GARLIC BUTTER NAAN, PhP 65 +   Traditional leavened Tandoor bread with garlic…  Not bad either.

HYDERABAD  CHICKEN  BIRYANI, PhP 200 +  The famous city known for its authentic chicken simmered in rice with the rich array of spices.   Tina and I shared this dish and again, we can tell that this was satisfying.

I only remembered that I’ve watched an episode on Asian Food Network long ago, on how to prepare this Hyderabad Biryani when we got home.  And now that I’ve tasted the dish, I can tell that it’s truly flavorful and perhaps next to paella which tops my list of rice dishes,  I think given few more exposures, I can learn to love this too.

A visit to The Kebab Factory isn’t complete without trying one of their kebabs on skewers…

BEEF  KEBAB, regular PhP 225+ / also available at 1 skewer for PhP 115 +  Mouth watering minced beef kebabs cooked in a Tandoor oven.   It was Tina who chose this and Beef Kebab doesn’t disappoint.

As for our pescetarian friend, here’s what he ordered that he genererously shared with us as well…

SAFFRON  RICE, PhP 120+.  Long grain rice cooked with butter with delicious aroma of saffron.  

VEGGIE MEAT KEBAB, PhP 250.  This plate got mixtures of flavors. There was a little bit of sourness we tasted which I guess, was part of its character.

PRAWN TANDOORI, PhP 480+.  The plump shrimps had that lingual stimuli from those unfamiliar flavors that were fused in one dish. It’s neither spicy nor bland.  The taste was good but far from standard and new to my tongue.

Except for the Persian lamps and nicely woven comfy chairs which are far from being eye-sores, the ambiance at The Kebab Factory is typical and casual.  Entire staff was discreetly attentive, although constant smiles would help soar their service to the highest heavens. Food was served after  10 to 15 minutes after order which was good and the taste of what’s in the menu isn’t bad either.  

Considering that our friend, Rob has been eating similar food at his work site, nevertheless, our tongues are still bias with our staples and with the few Italian, Continental and of course, Oriental.  Although we found the food at The Kebab Factory as uniquely tasteful and a bit new to our senses, to nicely put it- I think it would probably take more gastronomic adventures partial to Mediterranean food before it tops our list.

Do you like Persian food?

The Kebab Factory, 2/F SM Megamall Atrium, Julia Vargas Avenue, Mandaluyong City.

Mood: *yuck*

Reason for mood: Combination of Indian food and Arabic food for dinner (4 kinds of chaat and then shawarma)

Comment: Mixing issues in my tummy

Mood: Excited!!

Reason for mood: Nutella is restocked in the house!

Comment: Feeling dumb about being excited

Mood: *groaning*

Piyaz Restaurant

Piyaz Restaurant

Greetings from the East Coast.  Sunday I embarked on my bi-annual visit to my sister in New Jersey.  Our get together ritual includes a week long shopping, eating, and seeking out unique food emporiums, adventure.

Queens was our destination today, since we would pass it on the Van Wyck expressway from JFK to Long Branch, New Jersey. We exited the expressway to check out the 5 towns, including Lawrence, Woodmere, and Cedarhurst.  To my delight, several eateries on the main drag were advertising Borekas on their billboards. The heat of the day was becoming oppressive with the high humidity making the air heavy and we returned to the car after trying to buy an unsweetened iced green tea.  I guess they don’t drink that here.  It was time to head to our real destination, Piyaz, a Turkish restaurant.

Piyaz is the only kosher, authentic Turkish restaurant in the United States.  Piyaz has been open less than a year.  It’s bright and cheerful ambiance and spotless appearance made me hopeful that the food would be tasty.  The name Piyaz comes from a Turkish salad with white beans, lettuce, parsley, onions, and green peppers.  Although the two of us ordered enough food for 4 to 5 people we didn’t order the Piyaz.

Our waiter, a handsome, fresh faced, young man from Odessa, was eager to please.  We ordered a combination plate of cold appetizers including, tabouli, roasted eggplant, eggplant with tomatoes, spiced minced eggplant with red chilies, and lemony stuffed grape leaves.  The eggplants were all very different, but the smokiness and fruity olive oil was evident. I enjoyed the fresh green parsley taste of the tabouli.  The almost creamy rice stuffing of the grape leaves was delightful.

Next came the lentil soup, just like my mom’s, thick and creamy with just the right amount of seasoning. The hot appetizers on the menu all sounded so tempting, we finally settled on the Kuba, lamb stuffed bulgur wheat dumplings fried crispy and a spinach stuffed, 10 inch long boreka of homemade filo dough baked to a golden brown.  A platter of Lahmagun, thinly layered, puffy, baked dough topped with spiced ground lamb and tomatoes was well flavored but not overlly piquant.

We were starting to feel a little full, so we sent the unfinished platters back to the kitchen to be packed up in doggie boxes.  Just then, the waiter appeared with a huge mixed grill platter on a bed of rice pilaf.  The mixed grill included, Shawarma, Chicken Shish Kebab, Chicken Adana, Beef Shish Kebab, lamb chops, and chicken chops garnished with grilled peppers, tomatoes, grilled onions, and lemon slices.  Each meat had a slightly different spice and seasoning.  The phrase ‘bet you can’t eat just one’ comes to mind.

Since everything was so flavorful and reminisent of my families cuisine we ate until the bursting point.  Piyaz is unique in its menu choices, and if you are on the East Coast, or fly into JFK take the time to detour down  the road less traveled so to speak and experience an authentic taste of Turkey.